Runelords 54.0 - Hazardous Material Disposal
Eventually coming to terms with Aldern's lack of decisive opinion, Virgil decided to prioritize the removal of the necromantic medallion. Unwilling to let Aldern out of his sight until after the offending jewelry could be removed, Virgil convinced Aldern to hide in his bag of holding. Once inside, Virgil used Dimension Door to return to the street. Walking quickly, Virgil returned to the scroll store. After a short bit of haggling, he traded a scroll of Hold Monster that he had been carrying for a spell that would allow him to passively heal Aldern, a rarity considering how generally difficult it was to repair undead, as well as a sheet of lead. He walked back to the house and used Dimension Door once more to return to the underground room: the only place he knew of that would afford almost assured privacy. Letting Aldern back out, Virgil cast the scroll, donned an anti-necromantic glove and proceeded to forcibly yank off the medallion.Unfortunately for him, his grip slipped and he fell backwards, damaging a section of the mysterious jury-rigged machine. Taking a bit more care, he eventually worked the embedded amulet off, not without significant pain and damage to Aldern. The screams he gave were loud enough to be heard above ground, but since Virgil had been continuously using the healing aura, Aldern was at no risk of true death and the scarring he received was minimal compared to Luna. As this went on, Khyr continued to entice the other Foxglove's attention, wasting time with rambling stories that lacked a real point and baiting him to talk at length himself about business and other favoured topics. Foxglove looked towards the backyard at one point, attention caught by a strange noise, but Khyr quickly wrote it off as an odd bird and got him involved in talking once again. With Aldern resting, Virgil continued his plan: he roughly hacked out a rectangle of the lead sheet and, after scratching the message 'cursed' onto the metal, he folded the lead over one of the medallions he possessed, encasing it within the notoriously magic proof material. He repeated the action for Luna's medallion as well, before bidding Aldern a hopefully short farewell and promising to return soon. Dimension Door brought him to the street, where he quickly hustled towards the waterfront. On his way, he stopped and purchased a package of muffins. Using the baked goods and a series of spells, Virgil befriended a pair of albatrosses and convinced them to carry the lead-covered medallions far out to sea, only to drop them far beyond where any human could reach them. He vehemently hoped that his precautions would functionally remove the threat of the amulets to Luna and anyone else. When Virgil finally did get back to the Foxglove house, dinner had been served and the others were in the midst of eating. Virgil declined dinner as he handed a muffin over to Romeo, Khyr and Shadliss, acknowledging that he hadn't brought one to Aldern for obvious reasons. Foxglove inquired to Virgil regarding Luna's whereabouts, and he promised to give a detailed explanation if they could speak somewhere private. He brought them up to his study, leaving Khyr and an extremely nervous Shadliss to clean up. Shadliss had already packed her things and was ready to bolt at the first sign of anything strange, but Khyr managed to get her to at least wait for a signal. Sitting down opposite Aldern, Virgil took a highly professional tone and concisely summarized the events that had transpired since they parted with Aldern in Turtleback Ferry, up to where they had left Luna and Eamon. He went so far as to explain Zahira and the danger she posed to Luna's mind, and ended with an explanation as to why he and Khyrralien had come to Medinipur first: to find and dispose of the necromantic amulet that threatened her. When presented with the explanation, Aldern did indeed easily relinquish the medallion around his neck to Virgil without argument or complaint. Virgil continued to press his luck, calmly and as politely as possible explaining that he had already found and disposed of the 'other' amulet in town, freely admitting to having investigated under the shed. Though this Aldern was obviously upset and disapproving of the action, he appreciated the honesty and commitment to civility that Virgil was showing. Virgil politely offered any assistance that he could give in resolving the current issue, taking great pains to never actually mention the presence of a second Aldern Foxglove, but the lord, just as politely, refused the offer. Virgil apologized for the intrusion, excusing it as a means to ensure Luna's safety, and admitted to falling into the machine. Lord Foxglove accepted his apologies; he seemed pointedly unwilling to discuss his cloned twin, and was most interested in Luna returning. Virgil promised to bring Luna back in about two days, limited by Khyr's ability to cast Teleport and providing that Aldern could ensure her safety and security. He was adamant he could provide for her, so Virgil agreed and took his exit. Rejoining Khyr, Virgil began to mutter the summary of his escapades, ending with his thoughts that they should probably check in with the Aldern outside, considering the other one had made it clear he was in no mood for diplomatic intervention. Virgil brought them both there, and after a short conversation peppered with miscommunication, Khyr flopped over and decided to fall asleep in order to regain his spells. Virgil shrugged and returned inside to find Shadliss waiting anxiously by the door. He managed to coax her away and back to her room, where he explained everything to her and promised that the Aldern in the house with them posed her no harm. Eventually she tired and made herself ready for bed; Virgil offered to stay in her room as a security measure, to which she agreed. He sat sleeping upright in a chair near the door. When Khyr came to some hours later, he was miffed that Virgil hadn't come to wake him. Coaxing Aldern into a bag of holding once again and going indoors, he woke up Virgil and Shadliss. As Shadliss got ready to leave, Virgil considered the merits of bringing the second Aldern with them as well, to try and control the inevitable fallout regarding Luna. Virgil hesitated and Khyr skipped off without him to speak to the lord. Category:Rise of the Runelords